Dr. Ary S. Graça F°, FIVB President, had the opportunity to speak about the issues that have characterised the first year of his term in office - innovation, achievement and development.

Lausanne, Switzerland,
September 26, 2013 – The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) President,
Dr. Ary S. Graça F° was interviewed by ‘Volley 360’ during the 125th IOC Session that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina earlier in the month.

‘Volley 360’ is television programme created entirely by
the Argentine Volleyball Federation (FeVA) that is broadcast on Thursday of each week by DirecTV Sports (channel 610 - via
satellite). For those fans without access to DirectTV, FeVA also makes the
programme available through their YouTube channel the following Tuesday.

As the transcript of the
video relays, the President spoke about the development of the FIVB and
volleyball in Argentina and South America more generally as well as changes to the
point system in order to enhance the popularity of the game.

Introduction“I would like to say ‘hello’ to Argentina and all the countries in South
America that develop and like volleyball as they will be important participants
in the future. I would also like to say ‘hello’ to “Volley360” because it is
very important for the development of volleyball in South America.
Congratulations and thank you very much for the work you are doing. Thank you.”

Development of FIVB and volleyball in Argentina

“Today 90% of the FIVB budget comes from four
countries: Japan, Brazil, Poland and Italy. We don’t have a large market, so
what we have to do is work hard on a bottom-up approach by developing the sport
in continents like Africa and other places.The World League Finals and the Corrientes Grand Slam took place in
Argentina because I believe in this country. We know since 1982 that Argentina
is very capable of organising tournaments. The 2002 World Championship was
fantastic, with excellent results and now we have new stability. I feel certain
that now there are more sponsors because people want to put money into the game
if there is more stability.”

About the introduction of the 21 point rule

“We have to take into account that TV is very
important. It's difficult to broadcast a competition if we do not know how many hours the game is going to run. We need for matches to last a maximum of one and a half to two hours.”

Development of volleyball in South America

“South American players are good, have been good, and
are going to be good. Chile has a sensational male beach volleyball duo and female
duo is good, as well as Colombia. We do have to put more effort into helping Peru
and Venezuela improve.”